8 Ways to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

A carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG emissions) released into the atmosphere by an individual, population, organization, product, or service. GHG emissions consist largely of carbon dioxide, as well as methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapor—which, for the sake of calculating your carbon footprint, you can convert into CO2 equivalent units. These gases trap heat in the atmosphere, which raises global temperatures and causes climate change.

Achieving a lower carbon footprint may require significant lifestyle changes. Even adopting a few of these carbon-reducing tips can set you on a path to living more sustainably.

1. Eat Less Meat.

When it comes to choosing a low-carbon diet, a vegan diet will lower your carbon footprint the most. Research shows that meat has a more severe environmental impact than a plant-based diet, in large part because the production process for meat requires a significant amount of water, land, and feed. If you're not willing to completely give up meat, substituting a few meals a week with vegan meals or even eating more chicken than beef will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Eating locally grown food can be a component of a low-carbon diet since it reduces fuel use during transportation, but the majority of food’s CO2 emissions occur during production instead of transportation. Foods that are minimally processed generally require a lower amount of energy during production.

2. Waste Less Food.

In the United States, the average person wastes about 40 percent of the food they purchase. To avoid food waste, freeze food before it spoils, check your refrigerator before grocery shopping to avoid purchasing items you already have, lower your portion sizes to prevent cooking more food than you can eat, and take home leftovers when dining out.

3. Travel Efficiently and Infrequently.

As of 2017, the amount of transportation-related carbon dioxide emissions eclipsed the amount of electricity generation emissions. Transportation is now the number-one source of greenhouse gases. Driving and flying less will decrease your personal carbon footprint. While completely ditching your car may be out of the question, try substituting car trips with bike rides, bus trips, train rides, or other forms of public transportation. When you do drive, cut back on fossil fuel emissions by accelerating slowly and only using the air conditioning sparingly. Check your tire pressure for better fuel economy, carpool when possible, and consider purchasing a hybrid or electric vehicle if you want a new car. Eliminating just one roundtrip transatlantic flight will save you 1.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents per year.

4. Make Your Home More Energy-Efficient.

If you live in a state that allows you to choose your energy supplier, the first thing you should do is look for a supplier that uses renewable energy sources. For instance, a coal-fired power plant burns fossil fuel and is more harmful to the environment than wind power or solar power. Make sure your home is properly insulated and that doors and windows are sealed with weather stripping to prevent cooled and heated air from escaping. Lastly, reduce energy use in your everyday life: Buy appliances that meet United States energy efficiency standards, use your thermostat to regulate temperatures and try to use your air conditioning infrequently, turn off all lights and appliances when you’re not using them, and replace old lights with LED light bulbs that use less energy.

5. Reduce Plastics Use.

Plastic is nearly impossible to break down. Additionally, most plastic cannot be effectively recycled (even those with a recycling symbol on them), which means that the majority of plastic waste ends up in landfills or in the ocean. To help combat this, you can easily reduce your use of single use plastics, like shopping bags or water bottles, by keeping reusable products on hand.

6. Recycle Properly.

To make sure you're recycling properly, follow these guidelines: Recycle all clean paper products, and wash food containers to ensure they’re accepted at the recycling center. Donate working electronics instead of disposing of them, recycle broken electronics at an electronic store with a free recycling initiative, and look up where to recycle old batteries in your city.

7. Shop Sustainably.

Whenever you head to the store, purchase products with a long life cycle to avoid early replacement, use reusable shopping bags, turn down extra packaging, and invest in carbon offsets (a carbon-lowering product or activity that compensates for the carbon-increasing purchases you make).

8. Take Political Action to Fight Global Warming.

Lowering your personal carbon footprint is a great start, but doing your part to help reduce the global carbon footprint is even more important. Volunteer and vote for candidates committed to stopping climate change, advocate for ways to reduce your city's carbon footprint to local government officials, and join a climate action group committed to reducing atmospheric carbon, global greenhouse gas emissions, and harmful industrial activity.

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